Man, it was so good to be back in Seattle. I got to see lots of people I love, eat delicious food, pack up stuff for my new apartment and stress out about whether or not I was making the right decision to stay in Bethel for another year. But, all too soon, my time in Seattle was over and it was time to head back to Bethel for the first day of volleyball practice and of work. I wish I could say that I jumped into my life back here in Bethel as easily as I did the first time around, a year ago, but that would be a total lie. To be honest, I am not sure I made the right decision to come back. It just didn't feel as right as it did the first time. But, I had made the commitment to be here and so here I am.
Anyway, musings aside, lets talk about my life recently. I have been crazy busy. Basically, I work from 8:15-4:15 at the high school, working with 7th and 8th graders who need some extra help with their reading. Then, at 4:30, I transition to being the JV volleyball coach until 7ish. Then I walk home. Yay, 11 hour days! Also, up until last week, I didn't have a phone at all. So, for those of you who are missing me, that is my explanation. But good news, now I have a phone AND a P.O. Box. My phone number is 907-543-5113 and my address is P.O. Box 3522 Bethel, AK 99559.
But anyway, back to my busy schedule, I also have volleyball on the weekends. Last weekend I had a grand adventure with the Bethel Warriors Varsity volleyball team. This season, I will be traveling with the varsity team because the varsity coach is a man and they need a female chaperone. But, this past weekend, the varsity coach had to fly to Florida for a funeral, so I was in charge of the girls. The other chaperone was a teacher from the high school who had never played volleyball before, so not only was I put in charge of the girls, but I was also put in charge of all the coaching. Talk about some pressure. But it was a great weekend. Thursday morning, we all met at the airport and flew into Anchorage. Then, I went to go get the rental van. That was a funny experience, the woman checking out the van says to me, "it is strange that they sent a player to pick up the van.... don't they usually send coaches?" Thanks lady. I'm 23. Anyway, I drive the 15 passenger van back to the airport, and we loaded up all of our gear, and then went on a harrowing quest for Sport Authority and Taco Bell. I say harrowing because it was, in every way, a dramatic quest. I was weaving in and out of traffic, girls were yelling (incorrect) directions, and the chaperone was practicing her deep breathing in order to stay calm. Eventually, we did make it to Sports Authority, the girls bought volleyball socks, and then we went to Taco Bell and ate some delicious "authentic" Mexican food.
Then, we hopped back into the van and I drove to Seward. It was a beautiful drive that kind of reminded me of driving I-90 from Seattle. When we got to Seward, 2.5 hours later, we went to Seward High School and got everything settled where we were going to spend the night. The high school was kind enough to let us use their school to sleep in, and guess what? We stayed on the stage! That was pretty cool. Later that night, we played our first game of the season, against Seward. My girls played with a lot of heart. They tried really hard. (We got stomped. Something that would become a bit of a theme that weekend.) After that, we went to a great Chinese restaurant, then went to bed on the sweet stage.
The next morning, we woke up nice and early (we had to be out of the school by the time school started at 7:45) and drove to Nikiski. The drive took about 3 hours, including a stop at the Kenai Walmart, just for fun. Once we got to Nikiski high school, we checked in for the tournament. There were five other teams there, Nikiski, Seward, Kenai, Kodiak and Soldotna. On Friday afternoon, we played Kenai and Nikiski (stomp, stomp) and then watched some other teams play. On Saturday, we played Seward and Nikiski again (stomp and finally not a stomp). After we played our last game, we didn't stay for the championship game, we drove the 5ish hours back to Anchorage so we could check into our hotel and then go to the Anchorage Walmart and then to the movie theatre. Both times we went to Walmart, I gave the girls a talk about Walmart's cheap prices and the ways that Walmart gets those cheap prices (at the price of humans), but we all enjoyed the shopping nonetheless. I bought sheets, ketchup, mustard, ranch dressing, mayo, a water filter, sugar, ect. (Things that are ridiculously expensive in Bethel.) Then we went and watched a movie. Half saw Vampires Suck and half saw The Takers (I saw the Takers... ok movie, but it was just cool to be in a movie theatre!) After the movie, we went back to the hotel where a couple of girls decided to dye all or part of their hair blonde (all Native girls... I was pretty worried) We all decided to stay up until it was done, so we were up until like 3am.
The next morning, Sunday, we got up and went to the airport and flew back to Bethel. Then I worked all week, 8:15-7. Yep, I'm a busy girl. I get this weekend off from traveling, but then the next three weekends I will be gone, in Cordova, Nome and Dillingham respectively. Then I have a weekend off until I fly home to Seattle for Christina's wedding! I'm going to be racking up airline miles like crazy!
But, now it is time to head home. Our washer and dryer was just delivered this morning so I am hoping it will be set up soon so I can do my laundry for the first time in like 2 weeks. Yuck. Oh, but on a side note, you will all be proud to know that I shower every day again, all that volleyball practicing... I can't get away with not showering anymore. Haha. I will try and do better with my updating, and once I fully unpack and find my phone card, I will do better with my calling. I love you and miss you all!
